Which Wey now ?

Well a little bit of a play on words really.  We joined the River Wey Navigation having left the Thames at Shepperton. The Wey is owned and managed by the National Trust and feels like a slightly ‘different’ waterway – quieter, and more sedate. It was conceived in the early 1600s, and by 1653 (the Civil War delayed it a bit) it was open for barge traffic through to Guildford. This meant a direct route between Guildford and London (via the River Thames). It is prone to rapid flooding if it rains, and as soon as we got on to the river, it rained; and rained; and rained ! We cruised around 100 yards and stayed put for night and the whole of the next day (while it rained some more).

Setting off the second morning, the weather looked a little better and stopped raining long enough to take a photo of an attractive old mill next to one of the locks. It had been working until 1969 :

Coxes Mill (now apartments)

Arrival at Pyrford Lock heralded another intense downfall, but by then we were already soaked through. However, the heavy rain had put the knockers on moving any further as further upstream the river was in flood – unsurprisingly – and we weren’t allowed to go any further. Still the mooring was right outside a nice pub – life has a habit of introducing a silver lining sometimes ! Tom & Tamsin came over to meet us in the pub for the evening.

Moored by The Anchor pub (the day after the rain)

A walk up the river the next day to see what the flow was like was enough to convince us to stay put (by the pub). We came across an old building said to by where a chap called John Donne lived with his wife from 1601 to 1604, after he was released from prison. John Donne was a Anglican cleric, writer of love songs, erotic verse, and sacred poems, and was part of Queen Elizabeth’s parliament. He secretly married a sixteen year old girl he’d fallen in love with, but without her father’s knowledge. The father (Lieutenant of the Tower of London) refused a dowry, and arranged for him to be imprisoned until the marriage was validated a year later ! They lived in straightened circumstances for many years after his release, but he did eventually become Dean of St Paul’s !

John Donne’s house in 1601

Whilst out walking we also saw this rather nice kingfisher !

Seen overlooking Walsham weir

What did YOU do that hot Sunday ?

Well, first it was an Al fresco breakfast….

Sunday in Windsor (the ‘fence’ on the foredeck is stop the dogs trying to jump on the bank and missing !)

Next it was a stroll across the Eton fields….

Followed by…….

A visit to a very warm laundrette. Can’t wear dirty old clothes forever.

We expected the river to be busy at Windsor on a hot Sunday, but it did surprise us to see the shopping centre heaving with people. Having got the laundry out of the way, we couldn’t wait to escape from them all, and make our way to Runnymede. That was a whole lot quieter, although we passed some interesting things on the way……

Beryl Reid’s old house

 

A paddle boat

 

A canoeing beagle

Runnymede meadow is famous for having been the place that King John was ‘persuaded’ to sign the Magna Carta in 1215, and upon which many of the rights enshrined in constitutions around the world, are based.

On a ridge overlooking the river at Runnymede are two other thought-provoking memorials. The first is a John F Kennedy memorial erected on an acre of land given to the Americans just after his asassination in 1963. We can now say we’ve visited the US by narrowboat !

The memorial stone itself weighs 7 tonnes, and includes part of his inaugural speech on being elected just two years earlier…

Some of the 50 steps on the path up to memorial – representing the 50 US states

The second memorial we wanted to visit to pay respects was the Air force Memorial, for the more than 20,000 commonwealth air force personnel who went missing during WW2, but don’t have a known grave….

Airforce Memorial

 

Windsor Waterside

Four miles further down the River Thames finds us in Windsor. Of course we’ve moored for the afternoon and evening on the Eton side – where else !

From the peace and tranquility of Cliveden Reach last night, Windsor is absolutely buzzing. Being a warm weekend helps of course, but don’t we Brits love the water !  Motor cruisers, rowing boats, self-drive dinghies with outboards, trip boats, and canoes, they’re all here on the Windsor waterside.

Here we are (below) moored in view of her majesty (we think she’s here for the weekend as the Royal Standard looks to be flying over some old building on a hill nearby).

We had heard that Windsor is on the final approach for aircraft coming into Heathrow, however hadn’t realised they’d be this low over the town……

Al Fresco

The warm weather helps, however it is very hard to imagine whilst sitting here on the front deck of the boat, that the metropolis of Maidenhead is just one mile away.  This is the view from where I sit ……

Absolutely still and quiet, this is Cliveden Reach on the Thames, overlooked by Cliveden House. Warm enough for our first Al fresco meal of the year – here’s hoping for many more !

 

Orgies

Thought that might make you read this one !

Brutus moored at Marlow

The bridge at Marlow is said to have been built during that period that architecture and engineering enjoyed a happy marriage. It is rather grand, and reflects Marlow itself.

Earlier in the day we passed more very nice riverside properties, however one did stand out.

Medenham ‘Abbey’ – the remaining bit of abbey looks to be on the right hand side

Medmenham Abbey between Henley and Marlow, is said to be a ‘beautiful riverside mansion with stunning gardens and luxury accommodation’.  By all accounts it was once the meeting place for a secret society, The Hellfire Club, where politicians and aristocrats would take part in orgies with prostitutes

In the early 18th Century Francis Dashwood, a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, founded the ‘Brotherhood of the Knights of St Francis of Wycombe’ club at the abbey which he owned, and the 24 members of the club would dress in gowns before engaging in acts of debauchery including getting ‘open minded’ women dressed as nuns to pleasure them !

Members included the likes of the Marquis of Granby, the Earl of Bute, John Wilkes, Thomas Potter, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury’s son, and the Earl of Sandwich.

The property apparently boasts nine bedrooms, a cinema, library, spa, gym, music room and a bar, outstanding views over the Thames, and land totalling 42 acres.  A snip at the current asking price of £10 million.

Henley-on-Thames

Today we stopped in Henley for a while to have a look around. It reminded us of Cowes (IOW) in a way – lots of posh boats on the waterside, a resorty sort of feel, and clearly geared up for a week of jollity in the summer.

The River Thames hereabouts seems to exude a different air from the rest of England some how – all very genteel. Some of the waterside properties are rather desirable, and make the most of their riverside location :

There’s also some lovely boats around. This launch apparently dates from 1936 (so that chap told me).

Mahogany and teak – proper boat building !

Henley itself has a variety of shops including a number of charity outlets, however the main supermarket is Waitrose. No Aldi or Lidl here !

Deb was worryingly interested in this posh hat shop :

If one’s hat blows into the river during the regatta then one can buy a replacement here

 

Black and White (but not Guinness)

We’ve spent the day on the River Thames, having negotiated the flow on the River Kennet Navigation as it joins the Thames at Reading.

Yesterday Jamie (youngest son) came to visit before heading off to Amsterdam next week to spend four years on a PhD project involving the development of a liquid biopsy process, to help speed up cancer diagnosis. We wish him the best of luck.

Brutus is moored in a quiet spot just a couple of miles upstream from Henley-on-Thames, opposite a place called Lower Shiplake, and very well to do it is too !

Posh riverside properties

Looking on maps, there used to two ferries across the river here – essential, as the tow path changes sides for around half a mile but no bridges existed. The reason for the swapping of sides is usually the result of a wealthy land owner objecting to grubby boater types walking through their riverside land hauling working boats. Interestingly there are now a number of very nice houses along that stretch each with gardens down to the water, such as the black and white house in the photo below. The Thames was made navigable many centuries before they were built so perhaps the original landowner sold out.

A black and white house

A quick google revealed that one of the ‘cottages’ recently sold for £3.9 m, and that current and former residents of Shiplake include the drummer from the band Jethro Tull, Vince Hill, Gary Moore who used to play bass for Thin Lizzy, and George Orwell.

Black and white was the theme of the day with these two swans

They seemed to be together – do their offspring hatch out in a shade of grey I wonder ?

A black swan and a white swan pair

Stacey Keach and Oscar Wilde

Well we’re back in Reading for a couple of days before heading off down the River Thames toward London.  The intention is to turn right at Weybridge for a few days to explore the River Wey. Our mooring in Reading is next to the former prison (built in 1844 and closed in 2013).

Reading prison is on the right. Our ‘Brutus’ is the cream boat on the River Kennet on the left.

So what’s the link with Stacey Keach and Oscar Wilde ?  Well, both were incarcerated in the prison at some stage during their respective lives – Stacey Keach in 1984, Oscar Wilde ninety odd years earlier on 1895.  Slightly older readers might remember Stacey Keach in the early ’80s playing Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer.

Oscar Wilde by contrast, was an Irish playwright, novelist, essayist, and poet, and became one of London’s most popular playwrights in the early 1890s.  His stay at Her Majesty’s pleasure in Reading came about after a trial regarding ‘gross indecency with men’.

On the centenary of Oscar Wilde’s death (1900), Reading Council created a gated memorial garden in his honour.

The iron gates to the garden and walk look fairly normal, however when you look back through them the effect is rather clever.

The gates to the garden

The Oscar Wilde gate !